Travels through the Empire of Morocco Part 5

_Fez--Debility of the Moors--Mosques--Antiquities, Roman, Carthaginian, and Saracen--Storks held in great Veneration--Baths-- Bazars--Inhabitants--Residence--Menagerie--Marvellous Preservation of a Jew--Lions--Tigers--Leopards--Hyenas._

_Fez_, ----.

Considering the mildness of the climate, the uncommon fertility of the soil, the number of mineral waters, the fragrancy and salubrity of the air, one would imagine that the frame and const.i.tution of a Moor cannot but be beautiful, strong, and healthy; yet, though the most handsome people of both s.e.xes are to be met with in this great city, the number of miserable objects, the wretched victims of excessive early pa.s.sions, is in a much larger proportion: it is shocking beyond description to meet them in every corner of the streets. I have visited a great many of these poor creatures, and found them in such a state, that decency obliges me to draw a veil over it.

The mosques of this town, which I have before mentioned as very numerous, are square buildings, and generally of stone; before the princ.i.p.al gate there is a court paved with white marble, with piazzas round, the roofs of which are supported by marble columns. In niches within these piazzas, the Moors perform their ablutions before they enter the mosques. Attached to each mosque is a tower, with three small open galleries, one above another, whence the people are called to prayer, not by a bell, but by an officer appointed for that duty. These towers, as well as the mosques, are covered with lead, and adorned with gilding, and tiles of variegated colours. No woman is allowed to enter the Moorish places of wors.h.i.+p.

Several of the aqueducts, which were constructed by the Carthaginians and Romans, are still to be seen; and the ruins of amphitheatres, and other public buildings, are found in the town and neighbourhood of Fez: likewise many Saracen monuments of the most stupendous magnificence, which were erected under the Caliphs of Bagdad. The mosques and ruins are frequented by a great number of storks, which are very tame, and are regarded by the Moors as a kind of inferior saints.

The baths here are wonderfully well constructed for the purpose. Some of them are square buildings, but the greater part are circular, paved with black or white polished marble, and containing three rooms: the first for undressing and dressing, the second for the water, and in the third is the bath. Their manner of bathing is very curious: the attendant rubs the person with great force, then pulls and stretches the limbs, as if he meant to dislocate every joint. This exercise to these indolent people is very conducive to health.

The bazars in which the tradesmen have their shops, are very extensive. These shops are filled with all kinds of merchandise. In the centre of the town is a rectangular building, with colonnades, where the princ.i.p.al merchants attend daily to transact business.

The inhabitants of Fez are of a large muscular stature, fair complexion, with black beards and eyes; extremely amorous and jealous of their women, whom they keep strictly guarded. Their houses consist of four wings, forming a court in the centre, round which is an arcade, or piazza, with one s.p.a.cious apartment on each side. The court is paved with square pieces of marble, and has a basin of the same in the centre, with a fountain. They keep their houses remarkably clean and neat; but all the streets of this immense town are narrow, very badly paved with large irregular stones, and most shockingly dirty. The tops of their houses, like those of Tetuan, and other towns in Barbary, are flat, for the purpose of recreation.

Among the remnants of several amphitheatres, there is one very nearly entire, which is kept in constant repair at the expense of the Emperor, and appropriated as a menagerie for lions, tigers, and leopards. As I was contemplating it the other day, I felt at a loss to account for this being kept in repair, while the others were suffered to moulder into dust, unheeded, excepting a very few, and those but partially prevented from sharing the general wreck. I had stood some time, thus employed, when I was suddenly interrupted in my meditations, by the sound of voices close behind me; on turning I perceived two Jews, one of whom I knew very well, from having given advice to some part of his family. I immediately inquired how it happened that the building before us was so carefully preserved from going to ruin, as happened to most of the others. He informed me, that it was a kind of menagerie for wild beasts. "It was the same in the time of the late Emperor," continued he; "and a very curious incident befell one of my brethren in that place." As the narrative was not merely very curious, but really wonderful, I cannot forbear sending you the substance of it; as to give it you in the very circuitous way it came to me, would be rather a tax upon your patience, particularly, as you may not be so dest.i.tute of resources of amus.e.m.e.nt, as, I confess, I was at that moment.

It appears, that Muley Yezid, the late Emperor, had a great and invincible antipathy to the Jews (indeed it was but too evident in the horrible transaction I mentioned in a former letter). An unfortunate Israelite, having incurred the displeasure of that prince, was condemned to be devoured by a ferocious lion, which had been purposely left without food for twenty-four hours: when the animal was raging with hunger, the poor Jew had a rope fastened round his waist, and in the presence of a great concourse of people was let down into the den; his supplications for mercy, and screams of terror, availing him nothing. The man gave himself up for lost, expecting every moment to be torn in pieces by the almost famished beast, who was roaring most hideously; he threw himself on the ground in an agony of mind, much better conceived than described. While in this att.i.tude, the animal approached him, ceased roaring, smelt him two or three times, then walked majestically round him, and gave him now and then a gentle whisk with his tail, which seemed to signify that he might rise, as he would not hurt him; finding the man still continue motionless with fear, he retreated a few paces, and laid himself down like a dog. After a short time had elapsed, the Jew, recovering from his insensibility, and perceiving himself unmolested, ventured to raise himself up, and observing the n.o.ble animal couched, and no symptom of rage or anger in his countenance, he felt animated with confidence. In short, they became quite friendly, the lion suffering himself to be caressed by the Jew with the utmost tameness. It ended with the man being drawn up again unhurt, to the great astonishment of the spectators. A heifer was afterwards let down, and instantly devoured.

You may be sure this story was too great a triumph on the part of the Israelites, to pa.s.s without a number of annotations and reflections from the narrator, all tending to prove the victory of their nation over the heathens. For my part, I could not help thinking that there was too much of the miraculous in it. However, I have often heard it a.s.serted that the lion will never touch a man who is either dead, or counterfeits death; indeed here they tell me, that, unless pressed by hunger or rage, it never molests a man; and they a.s.sure me even that upon no account will these animals injure a woman, but, on the contrary, will protect her, when they meet her at a watering-place. This country abounds with lions, tigers, leopards, and hyenas, which sometimes make nocturnal visits to the villages, and spread desolation among the sheep and cattle.

LETTER XV.

_Sudden Departure from Fez--Arrive at Mequinez--Attend the Emperor--Melancholy Catastrophe--Expedition against wild Beasts--Extensive Palaces--Seraglio--Visit a Haram--Founders of the City--A fortified Town--Inhabitants--Jewish Town--Rich Attire of the higher Orders--Numerous Market-places--Furniture--Saints'

Houses--Imperial Field Sports--Pack of Greyhounds--Abundance of Game._

Mequinez.

No doubt, my dear D----, you will be very much surprised to observe my letter dated from this place. I a.s.sure you I had not the most distant idea, when I wrote last, of removing so suddenly from Fez. On the evening of the same day that I dispatched my letter to you, as I was preparing for rest, an express arrived from the Emperor, begging me to repair hither without delay. Concluding that nothing less than life or death depended on my speedy arrival, I accordingly renounced the pleasures of the drowsy G.o.d for a very uneasy seat on the back of a mule, and at midnight set off for this place, leaving my baggage and attendants to follow in the morning. I rode very fast all night, and arrived here about nine o'clock the next day. When I dismounted, I was so extremely stiff, that it was with the utmost difficulty I could stand; I was most dreadfully fatigued, and stood in very great need of repose; but waving all selfish considerations, I thought only of being serviceable, and therefore lost no time in waiting on the Emperor. He received me in the kindest and most flattering manner, and expressed great pleasure at seeing me; but I found my patient's case not so very urgent as I had imagined; a few hours delay would not have endangered the life of any human being, and it would have saved _one_, some aching bones. However, after dispatching the case in point as expeditiously as possible, I soon made amends for my deprivation, by indulging in a little longer repose than usual, and on awaking I felt myself quite refreshed, and rather pleased than otherwise at finding myself thus suddenly at Mequinez; for having before pa.s.sed the road more leisurely, and observed every thing worthy of remark, I did not so much regret that my journey had been performed during the night.

I have been four days here, and yesterday I was called upon to attend the captain of a band of huntsmen, who were that morning returned from an expedition, in which they lost three of their companions, and only succeeded in saving their chief, and bringing him to this place, by little short of a miracle. He has been lacerated in a most dreadful manner; his head is nearly scalped, and part of the integuments of his arms and back inverted. His condition is certainly dangerous; but, as he is a young and healthy subject, I do not despair of effecting his recovery.

I have learned the following particulars of this melancholy catastrophe. About fifty resolute young men marched hence, all armed and well stocked with ammunition and provisions, and accompanied by a mountaineer, who acted as guide. Their primary object was to destroy six young lions, that had committed terrible devastation in one of their villages; compelled the inhabitants to flee precipitately; and themselves remained sole masters of the _citadel_. After a march of three days, they arrived at the scene of action, and succeeded in destroying those lions; but hearing that there were more in the neighbourhood, they prepared to encounter them also. By order of this young man, who was chief of the company, they separated in five divisions, and repaired to different posts on the borders of the forest, to wait the arrival of the lions. They had not remained long, ere the terrific roar of these animals commenced, the sound approached nearer and nearer to their place of concealment, and one of the lions pa.s.sed close to a party, and received the fire of their pieces; the animal darted upon them in return, before they could charge again, and three unfortunate men fell victims to his rage. The creature finding he had more enemies to contend with, and his wounds beginning to smart, retreated to a cover, where he sat licking them, and meditating another attack. He was on the point of springing on the captain, who had approached nearer to him than the rest, when the young man discharged his musket, the contents of which entered, and dislocated, the lower jaw of the enraged animal. The instant the youth had fired, he retreated with the utmost precipitation towards his companions, but his foot unfortunately slipping, he fell prostrate between two stones: in which position the lion a.s.sailed him; and being unable to tear him in pieces with his teeth, in consequence of the wound in his jaw, he made use of his tremendous paws, and would undoubtedly have destroyed him, but for the timely a.s.sistance of his comrades. The animal was so intent on the destruction of his enemy, that he received a close fire from two muskets, the muzzles of which nearly touched him. He no sooner found himself mortally wounded, than, raising the almost lifeless man in both paws, he dashed him on the ground, and fell dead by his side.

The man received a very severe contusion on his bead, which deprived him of sense for some time, and is what I dread the most in his case. His wounds were dressed by his companions in the best manner they could, and he was brought hither. The Emperor has very liberally rewarded him and his party, and made a handsome provision for the widows and children of those poor fellows who fell in the expedition. I sincerely hope this man may recover to enjoy the munificence of his Sovereign.

I have most excellent quarters here, contiguous to one of the palaces, and am allowed to walk or ride in the Imperial gardens, which are very extensive. The Emperor's palaces here, are much upon the same plan, with those at Fez, but larger. One of them is about three miles in circ.u.mference. All the apartments are on the ground floor, and are large long rooms, about twenty feet in height, receiving air from two folding doors which open into a square court, with a portico round, embellished with colonnades. The walls of the rooms are faced with glazed tiles, and the floors paved with the same, which gives an air of coolness and neatness, so desirable in this warm climate.

The seraglio of the Emperor, and indeed the harams of men of less rank, are sacred. No strangers are admitted, and it is profanation in a man to enter; but as a _tweeb_, I am privileged, and enjoy a liberty, never granted before. The day after my arrival, His Excellency the _Sheik_ called upon me, and requested me to go home with him. He informed me that he had been a.s.sured, in the most positive manner, by all the doctors, and female attendants, that his wife had a dead child in her, and that nothing less than a miracle of their great Prophet could save her. The poor man was very much agitated while giving me this account. I find she is his favourite wife, and no wonder, for she is a very lovely woman. Upon examination, I found that what they imagined to be a dead child, is a protuberant hardness in the region of the liver, extending nearly all over the abdomen. The tumefaction was considered as a case of pregnancy; and she having considerably pa.s.sed her time, the child was thought to be dead within her. I have begun a course of medicine, which I flatter myself will entirely eradicate the disorder.

My stay was so very short, when I was here before, that I could give you no account of the town, &c. The city of Mequinez is in the kingdom of Fez, and thirty miles from the capital of that name. The dynasty of _Mequinez_ were the founders of this town, which they erected upon the ruins of the old one. Stepha.n.u.s takes notice of it, by the name of _Gilda_, and says, that it was a place of great note.

Marmol also a.s.serts, that the present Mequinez answers in every respect to the ancient _Gilda_. It was considerably enlarged by Muley Ishmael, who (as well as several other Moorish princes, successively) defended himself in this place, against the attacks of the mountaineers. Several lines of circ.u.mvallation and intrenchments are still to be seen.

It is surrounded with walls, and fortified by two bastions; but has no artillery. It contains about one hundred thousand inhabitants; twenty-five thousand of whom are Jews, who have a town of their own, irregularly fortified, and guarded by a strong force, under the direction of an Alcaid, who is styled the Governor of the Jews.

There is not the smallest difference, in the construction of these houses, from those of Fez; though the inhabitants differ very materially. The men are of a short, thick, muscular make, and swarthy complexion, with long black beards and black eyes. The women are excessively handsome, and remarkably fair; nor are they devoid of neatness and elegance in their dress. They improve the beauty of their eyes with paint.

The Moorish inhabitants of this city are all militia-men, entirely at the disposal of the Emperor. They are excellent hors.e.m.e.n, expert at the sword and lance; and with fire-arms most admirable marksmen. They are generally considered barbarous and ferocious.

The people of distinction go about richly attired, having much gold and silver on their clothes. They take great pains in cleaning their teeth, combing their long beards, and keeping their nails pared extremely close.

The streets of this town are not paved; and the soil being clay, they must be very disagreeable in winter; for, after a heavy shower of rain, they are almost impa.s.sable from the acc.u.mulation of mud in every quarter. The market-places, with which this place abounds, are long, narrow, arched or covered streets, with small shops on each side, superintended by a Cadi, and an officer under him, for the purpose of collecting the duties on the sale of goods, &c. The chief furniture of the houses consists of beautiful carpets, cus.h.i.+ons, and mattresses, upon which they sit and lie.

In and about the neighbourhood of this place are several saints'

houses, near which no Christian, nor Jew, is allowed to pa.s.s. The most remarkable is the _hospitium_ of Sidi-el-Marti.

The Emperor's favourite diversions, while here, are shooting and hunting, in both of which I am told he excels. He keeps a large pack of greyhounds, as fine as any I have seen in England. His pleasure-grounds, and park, in the vicinity of this town, abound in all kinds of game, hares, rabbits, and deer, and in wild boars and foxes.

LETTER XVI.

_Courts.h.i.+p_--_Marriage_--_Funerals_--_Sabbath_.

Mequinez.

I shall now give you an account of the manner in which the marriages are invariably negotiated and conducted in this country. A female, the confidential friend of the suitor, is dispatched to observe and report the beauty and accomplishments of the young lady; and when those are found to be perfectly adapted to the gentleman's taste, she is further delegated to sound his eulogium, and by every means, such as presenting her with valuable jewels, &c. to ingratiate him in the good opinion of the fair one. When this curious courts.h.i.+p ends, by terms being agreed upon, the destined bridegroom pays down a sum of money to the bride, a license is taken out from the Cadi, and the parties are married. I send you a description of a marriage-ceremony, at which I was present the other day.

The bridegroom (who is one of the officers of the household) came out of his house, attended by a vast number of his friends, and mounted one of the best horses belonging to the Emperor, most curiously and richly caparisoned. He carried his sword unsheathed, and was preceded by a splendid standard, and a band of music; he was followed by a kind of palanquin, supported on the shoulders of four stout black slaves, a detachment of cavalry firing off their pieces every minute, and a procession of relatives and friends, the whole moving with great mirth and jollity,

Before they reached the house of the bride, the cavalcade halted, and the bridegroom dismounted, a.s.sisted by his negro slaves, and knocked loudly at the door three times. The lady was brought out in a covered chair, attended by four women, completely m.u.f.fled up. The whole party of the bridegroom turned their backs, and she was smuggled into the palanquin: they then returned in the same style to the house of her lord, where, before she was allowed to enter, he placed himself at the entrance, and extending his right arm across the door-way, she pa.s.sed under, as an indication of her voluntary and unconditional submission to his will and pleasure.

After this ceremony, the bridegroom was obliged to retire to the house of his nearest relation, where he continued three days and nights, feasting, and receiving presents from all his male friends, while the bride was paid the same compliments by her female acquaintance. At the expiration of the appointed time, the gentleman returned to his own house.

The Moors are not allowed by their law more than four wives, but they may have as many concubines as they can maintain; accordingly, the wealthy Moors, besides their wives, keep a kind of seraglio of women of all colours.

From their marriages, I am insensibly led to the subject of the burial of their dead. Not that any idea strikes me of an a.n.a.logy between the situations of a married person, and one consigned to the "_narrow house_," as Ossian poetically styles the grave; but from a certain succession of thought, for which one is at a loss to account. In the burial of their dead, they are decent and pious, without pomp or show. The corpse is attended by the relations and friends, chanting pa.s.sages from the Koran, to the mosque, where it is washed, and it is afterwards interred in a place at some distance from the town, the Iman, or priest, p.r.o.nouncing an oration, containing the eulogy of the deceased. The male relations express their regard by alms and prayers, the women by ornamenting the tomb with flowers and green leaves. Their term of mourning is the same as ours, twelve months, during which period the widows divest themselves of every ornament, and appear habited in the coa.r.s.est attire. Their burial-grounds are inclosed by cypress and other dark lofty trees, the lower parts of which are interwoven with odoriferous shrubs and creeping plants, forming an almost impenetrable hedge. Some of their tombs are very curious, though they exhibit specimens of the rudest architecture. There are also several saints' houses in their burying-places, which render them doubly sacred; and no Christian or Jew is suffered to enter, on pain of death.

Friday being their Sabbath, the day is kept perfectly holy; all the Moors are employed in prayer, reading the Koran, or visiting the tombs of their departed friends.

Curiosity prompted me to go and see an a.s.semblage of fanatics, at a celebrated saint's house, in the neighbourhood of this town. They were to perform many wonderful things, such as tearing a live sheep in pieces, and devouring the flesh, fighting with wild beasts, and several other barbarous exhibitions. These people, called in Barbary _Free Masons_, are nothing more than a set of canting, roaring companions, surcharged with wine and other liquors, and a.s.sembled in this holy place, for the sole purpose of giving free vent to their brutal pa.s.sions. This society is peculiar to itself, having no connexion with our ancient or modern Free Masons. I have however obtained a free access to their saints' houses and secret meetings, with permission to go any where unmolested; but I always take the precaution to go well armed, and escorted by the Emperor's guards, as nothing can exceed the barbarous acts of this fanatic set of people.

I am extremely happy to say, that my most sanguine expectations with regard to the poor man, whose accident I mentioned in my last, are realized; every unfavourable symptom has vanished, and I can safely rely on his perfect recovery. The complaint of my female patient has also given way to a proper course of medicine, and the Governor is one of the happiest of men. When I announced the pleasing intelligence of her disease being removed, he embraced me with such ecstacy that I almost dreaded suffocation; in short, he has spared nothing that can evince his grat.i.tude and satisfaction, for what he terms the inestimable benefit I have conferred upon him.

The country round this city is inexpressibly rich and beautiful, being laid put for several miles in gardens, abounding in flowers and fruit-trees; among the latter the vine sands pre-eminent, yielding most delicious grapes. The air here, as in the other parts of Barbary, is very pure and salubrious.

LETTER XVII.

_Depart for Morocco--Roads dreadfully infested, by Robbers--A Tribe of aboriginal Freebooters--Description of Morocco--Filth of the common People--Tobacco disallowed--Justice of the Emperor_.

Mequinez

Since I wrote last, I have taken a trip to Morocco and back again. As I had a great deal of leisure time, and every thing here having lost the attraction of novelty, I determined to go further up the interior of the country; and accordingly applied to the Emperor for permission to visit Morocco, which he granted, but with the injunction that I should return as quickly as possible.

I set off, accompanied by my usual guard, which I a.s.sure you I never found so necessary as on this journey; for the rapacious spirit of the peasantry exposed us continually to the danger of being plundered, we were therefore obliged to keep watch alternately, to prevent our property, perhaps our lives, becoming a prey to these wretches. The neighbourhood of Morocco is dreadfully infested by robbers and a.s.sa.s.sins.

The inhabitants of the empire of Morocco, that are not in a military capacity, or otherwise immediately in the service of the Emperor, are miserably poor; and the natural indolence of their disposition preventing them from making any laudable exertions towards gaining a livelihood, they have recourse to every means of fraud and violence. It is astonis.h.i.+ng how frequently a.s.sa.s.sinations and robberies are committed in this empire, notwithstanding the ruffians, when detected, are punished in the most exemplary manner, by the right hand and left foot being cut off, and the head afterwards being severed from the body. The relations of the murderer are all fined very heavily, and the judgment often extends to the whole village, near which the crime had been perpetrated; yet seldom a day pa.s.ses but some daring robbery is committed, accompanied by the most wanton and savage cruelty; the unhappy victim of the plunderer being frequently left in the public roads in a most shocking state of mutilation.